The present invention relates generally to rescue systems and methods and more particularly to improved rescue systems for removing an imperiled person from a body of water in which the person is imperiled. The system is particularly suited for rescuing person who have fallen into a body of water having rapidly moving currents such as that of a river, stream or ocean.
Rescuing a person from a body of water is becoming a more common problem due to the population growth of areas which are subject to unexpected torrential rainfall. In addition, many heavily populated areas not uncommonly experience flooding due to dam rupture as well as many other causes. The resulting flood waters typically move very quickly through an area and with great force due to the high volume of water involved. Moreover, high population growth in some arid areas has required construction of dams and artificial waterways which present new hazards to residents who may become imperiled in such waterways.
Some prior art systems for rescuing a person immersed in rushing water include a net which is manually positioned to block the person's movement through the rushing water. An example of such a prior art system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,313 to Rachal. The Rachal system utilizes a net to which oval carabiners are attached at four corners of the net. The carabiners are held by four persons who are positioned at opposite sides of a stream in order to laterally extend the net and position it generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the rushing water and thereby block further movement of the imperiled person in the stream. The Rachal system also includes strobe lights mounted on the net to inform the rescuee of the presence of the net and thereby communicate to him that he should seek to grab hold of the net or insert his arms in the openings thereof. The Rachal system is an effective rescue system and advantageously does not require a rescuer to swim after the rescuee and thereby risk another life in a rescue attempt. However, an important disadvantage of this type of prior art system is that it requires active involvement on the part of the rescuee. Active cooperation by the imperiled person in the rescue attempt is often unavailable because the person may be in a state of exhaustion or in shock from the cold water and cannot think clearly enough to know what the strobe lights are signaling and ascertain from the presence of the strobe lights what he must do.
Other prior art systems for rescuing a person from a body of water utilize a helicopter. Two examples of such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,860 to Fritz and U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,061 to Arney. Both the Arney and Fritz systems utilize a helicopter to carry a rescue structure to the body of water and lift and carry the structure and person contained therein out of the body of water and away from the rescue site. The Arney invention uses an enclosure having an opening at an end thereof (or two openings at opposite ends) thereof and which is designed to float on the body of water. The rescue structure has propelling means operable by the helicopter personnel via an umbilical cord connected to the structure. This enables the structure to be moved over the imperiled person and allow the person to be captured thereby. When this is accomplished, the entire structure and person captured therein are hoisted off and away from the rescue site by the helicopter. However, an important disadvantage of such prior art systems as the Arney invention is that in a storm situation or other type of adverse weather condition the helicopter may not be able to hoist and carry the enclosure away without tilting and capsizing it, and this may be disastrous if the helicopter is flying at a substantial height above the body of water or at another location away from the rescue site. The Fritz system uses a net having a sinking weight and a flotation structure to enable the net to be positioned under an imperiled person by the helicopter. When the net is properly positioned, the helicopter personnel raise the sinking weight to thereby enclose the person in the net. However, an important disadvantage of the Fritz system is that it requires the helicopter personnel to maneuver the net into position while in flight. Such deft maneuvering while the helicopter is hovering requires a high degree of skill and may be impossible in a storm or other adverse weather conditions. Consequently, under some conditions, these types of helicopter rescue systems may be ineffective in effectuating rescue.
Some prior art rescue devices are designed especially for rapidly moving water situations. An example of such a prior art apparatus is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,565 to Yanez. The Yanez apparatus includes a net having ballast weights and which is attached to and mounted on a suspension mechanism. These structures position the net in a substantially vertical orientation in a body of water so that a person in the rushing water may grasp or become entangled in the net. The apparatus is moved into the desired position by means of two support structures situated at opposite banks of a river or the like and by persons who manually move the ropes through the support structures. The net is also pulled to one bank after the person is entangled in the net by utilizing these same structures. However, a primary disadvantage of such prior art apparatus is that it requires the use of support structures and personnel at different and relatively distal locations to set up and utilize the apparatus in the rescue. Moreover, the personnel must be well coordinated in their use of the apparatus. This may be more time consuming than the urgency of the emergency situation may allow such that the imperiled person who is rapidly moving through the water may move out of reach. In addition, in a disaster site, such a number of rescue personnel may be unavailable because the disaster situation produces other emergencies which the personnel must attend to.
Some prior art systems and methods for rescuing a person from a moving body of water have included simply throwing a flotation device to the apparently drowning person with the sole purpose of simply preventing that person from sinking. However, since hypothermia is a frequent cause of death in these situations, removing the person from the cold water as soon as possible is of crucial importance and such devices are typically unable to provide that. In addition, since falling into a rapidly moving body of water may result in serious injury to the victim and accidental injury may have contributed to the fall into the body of water, promptly removing that person from the body of water is also needed in order to provide timely medical attention and thereby reduce the chance that the injury will result in death.
Some prior art systems for rescue include throwing a rope or net to the imperiled person. Often a rope may be attached to a flotation device. However, one of the primary shortcomings of such systems and methods is that the person to be rescued is required to have and utilize a very high degree of strength in order to maintain a firm grip on such a rope or flotation device because of the relatively high speed at which he is moving through the water. This is unlikely if the imperiled person is a child. Also, this becomes difficult to accomplish if, as is common, the person in the body of water is in a weakened state due to hypothermia or due to exhaustion from attempting to swim to safety or due to injury or inhalation of water. Indeed, since it is very common for flood waters to include a very large mass of water moving at very high speeds, it becomes much more likely that an imperiled person will become quickly weakened due to exhaustion, personal injury or water inhalation. Moreover, it is often difficult for the person to be rescued to be able to grab a hold of such a rope or flotation device because of his speed relative to the rescuing person. In addition, because of this often great difference in relative speed between the rescuer and the rescuee, the rescuer is often unable to accurately throw the rope close enough to the rescuee to allow him to grab it. The high degree of force with which the flood waters push the imperiled individual require a correspondingly high degree of strength to grab a hold of and maintain a firm grip on such a rope, net or flotation device in order for the rescue to be successful. In addition, the winds may carry such flotation devices in a different direction than the water currents are carrying the victim. In such instances, there is little chance that the flotation device thrown onto the water will reach the area of the victim. Consequently, regardless of whether the rescue equipment is thrown to a drowning person from a bridge, a shore or a helicopter, these problems often prevent such a rescue operation from being successful.
A rescue system is thus needed that does not require a high degree of strength from the imperiled person in order for the rescue operation to be successful. A rescue system is also needed that is capable of rescuing an unconscious, weakened or injured person or a child from a moving body of water. A rescue system is also needed that is very mobile in order to be able to reach the site of the emergency quickly. A rescue system is also needed that may be set up easily and quickly in order to help the imperiled individual in time for the rescue operation to be successful.